Minnetrista, MN – Delano used timely plays and big gains to take down Westonka 28-2 at Haddorff Field on Friday night in a Skyway Green Subdistrict game. With a standing room only crowd for its homecoming game, the White Hawks (2-4, 2-2) could only muster 158 yards of total offense, while the Tigers chalked up 492 yards.

After an opening three-and-out by the Westonka offense, Delano (4-2, 3-1) went 79 yards in 7 plays, highlighted by a 21-yard TD run by quarterback Grant Bruett. The extra point made it 7-0 halfway through the 1st quarter. White Hawks quarterback, Cade Newell, would open the next Westonka possession with a 27-yard run right up the middle taking the ball almost to midfield. A 9-yard completion to junior wide receiver Eric Donelan picked up another first down inside Tigers territory, but the drive stalled forcing another Newell punt.

Westonka’s defense would hold firm on the next Delano series. Dawson Leinfelder and Will Pioske would combine for a tackle on first down and then on 3rd and long, Anders Mjelstad chased Bruett on a roll out to his left allowing Brandt Tebbs to stop him cold at the line-of-scrimmage with help from linebacker Mason Merritt. On the ensuing punt, the Delano long snapper snapped the ball over the punter’s head and out the back of the end zone giving the White Hawks a safety and two points. “Defensively we played really well at times and really struggled at times. The biggest thing that we need to improve upon is our physicality and how we tackle,” said Westonka head coach Nick David.

The score remained 7-2 until Bruett would find his brother, Andrew Bruett, just inside the right pylon on a lofted pass to the 6’5 receiver giving the Tigers a 14-2 lead with 3:32 left in the 2nd quarter.

The White Hawks would get a good kickoff return by Tebbs, and then on the first play of the drive, running back Blake Reinbold ran around the left end for a 26-yard gain taking the ball to midfield. However, Westonka would eventually have to punt with Delano taking over at their own 20-yard line after a touchback on the punt. Bruett and Bruett would connect again for the Tigers on their next possession, but Bruett was hit by Donelan at the Westonka 27-yard line jarring the ball loose and then recovering at giving the ball back to the White Hawks just before halftime.

Delano received the second half kickoff, but Westonka forced a punt, setting the White Hawks offense up at their own 20-yard line. Tebbs would run for three yards and catch a pass for no gain before dropping a critical third down pass right at the first down marker. Newell’s punt travelled 37 yards down to the Tigers 40-yard line.

A pass interference call on Delano’s next drive put them across the 50-yard line, but Donelan would outleap Andrew Bruett on a pass down the middle of the field intercepting Grant Bruett for no gain. But, once again, the White Hawks couldn’t move the ball on offense and Newell’s punt was returned to the Westonka 43-yard line.

Westonka senior linebacker Andrew Hoisington would almost single handedly stop the Tigers on the next series totaling three tackles helping force another Tigers punt. In fact, the White Hawks defense held Delano to just 31 yards in the 3rd quarter. Unfortunately, the White Hawks offense would only pick up one first down the rest of the game while gaining just 28 yards in the second half. “We are continuing to make too many mistakes on offense. On any given play we have 9-10 players executing at a high level, with 1-2 players missing assignments. We need to continue to clean things up if we ever want to be more consistent on offense,” stated David.

The Tigers would tack on two 4th quarter touchdowns as Grant Bruett scrambled for a 36-yard TD and then went up the middle for a 1-yard touchdown to close out the scoring.

Newell was only able to complete six passes for 38 yards but did run for 59 yards on 11 carries. Reinbold had 35 yards rushing and 24 yards receiving, while Wyatt Stepanek gained 19 yards on four rushing attempts.

Tebbs had a game-high 13 tackles (7 solo) with a tackle-for-loss and Hoisington finished with 9 tackles and two TFL’s. Merritt had 8 tackles while Mjelstad tallied 7 tackles. Leinfelder had another big game from his defensive tackle position garnering six tackles and three tackles-for-loss. Phil Pisarchuk chipped in six tackles. Donelan had a great game in his first start at free safety tallying five tackles to go along with the interception, the forced fumble and recovery. Pioske and Max French each finished with five tackles, while Emmitt Johnson had four.

The White Hawks will hit the road once more as they travel to Zimmerman (4-2, 3-1) to take on the Thunder at Zimmerman High School. Game time is slated for an early kickoff at 6pm.